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| From: Ashleigh Merritt <a.merritt_at_mail.utexas.edu>
| To: crm-devel_at_db.erau.edu
| Subject: brainwashing
| Date: May 27, 1997 10:36 AM
|
| Because Dr. Amadou is adamant about the term.....This is why I object to
| the term "brainwashing" in any reference to CRM.
|
| As others have stated, the term "brainwashing" carries a strong negative
| overtone. Nobody is willingly "brainwashed" - the term always implies
that
| the action is being done against someone's will. Today's CRM courses
are
| not exercises in deception - they are designed to enhance performance and
| manage error. When the courses are designed and delivered appropriately,
| aviators understand the benefits and move toward acquiring the new
skills.
|
| If you tell me orange juice is good for me, and other sources also
present
| the argument that OJ is nutritious, and I drink it, have I been
| brainwashed, or have I weighed the evidence and made my own decision
about
| what is good for me? (If you say yes, then are you saying that
| brainwashing applies to all forms of information dissemination and/or
| education?)
|
| To say CRM is a form of brainwashing is to suggest that today's aviation
| personnel are incapable of independent thought, or that they resist
| attempts to improve their performance. In my experience, pilots are
united
| in wanting to know how they can do their jobs better. To suggest
anything
| else is an insult to their professionalism, and an insult to our work in
| the research and development field.
|
| Ashleigh Merritt, Ph.D.,
| Aerospace Crew Research Project
| 1609 Shoal Creek Blvd., Suite 200, Austin TX 78757 USA
| ph: 512 480 9997 fax: 512 480 0234 Homepage:
| http://www.psy.utexas.edu/psy/helmreich/nasaut.htm